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Two charged with defrauding local lottery winner of $21,000
By Carey Phillips
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Jodi Gibson
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Jackson County’s first big winner in the N.C. Education Lottery will have to wait a while to receive his money, and two people have been charged with attempting to defraud the man of $21,000.
Cecil Green of Savannah community bought the winning Black Jack ticket on Sun., Aug. 13, at the Mountain Breeze Mart across from Harold’s Supermarket.
Facing charges of obtaining property by false pretenses are Jodi Gibson, 23, and Shawn Adams, 32, both of Sylva, according to Detective John Buchanan of the Sylva Police Department. They have both been released from custody after posting $7,000 bond.
Green said he doesn’t play the lottery much, but usually buys $2 Black Jack scratch-off tickets when he does.
“I’d been out to eat breakfast and thought I’d stop and get a ticket while I had $2,” Green said.
He purchased the ticket from Gibson, the Mountain Breeze clerk on duty that morning. After scratching off the numbers, Green took the ticket to Gibson to see what he had won.
“The girl told me the computer was shut down, but I knew I had won something and it was more than $500,” Green said.
Green said Gibson told him to leave the ticket with her, and she would call him when the computer came back up. She called about an hour later and said the ticket wasn’t a winner.
“I got suspicious then and went to the boss man,” Green said. “He’s the one who got it rolling.”
Green was referring to Mountain Breeze owner Hugh Thompson.
According to Buchanan, Thompson checked with lottery officials, who said a ticket sold at his store had been cashed in for $21,000 at the Asheville regional lottery office.
That’s when the police got involved.
“Both of them confessed about what happened although Adams didn’t confess to anything criminal,” Buchanan said.
The investigation has revealed that Gibson told Adams, who Buchanan identified as her boyfriend, that she bought the winning ticket while she was off duty. She gave it to Adams to cash in, and they both went to Asheville to claim the prize.
A lottery news release dated Aug. 14 lists Adams as a $21,000 winner.
Adams denied knowing anything about Gibson’s actions, Buchanan said.
“Shawn gave me all the money,” Buchanan said. “He had deposited it at Wachovia Bank. He is cooperating, and the district attorney is considering dropping the charges against him.”
The money, which totals more than $14,000 after taxes, has been turned over to the police. A court date is set for Sept. 5, although the case could be continued.
“It will be up to a judge to decide the outcome of the money according to the disposition of the case,” Buchanan said.
“It feels pretty good,” Green said of his luck. “I’ll have to wait a couple of months I guess. I’m going to work on my house with it.”
As for whether he will continue to play the lottery, Green chuckled and said, “I don’t know.”
Similar cases have been reported elsewhere in North Carolina since the lottery began earlier this year.
“It’s not the first time,” said lottery representative Veronica Green. “It’s commonplace in all lotteries.”
Buchanan and Veronica Green both said people should never leave a lottery ticket with a store clerk if they believe the ticket is a winner but are told that’s not the case.
“If you’re not sure about being a winner, go to somebody you trust or call the lottery,” Buchanan said.
Retailers can issue prizes up to $599. Prizes worth $600-99,999 may be claimed at regional offices, including the one in Asheville. Prizes of $100,000 or more may only be claimed at state lottery headquarters in Raleigh.
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